Montana had the lowest pay in 1998

The next lowest pay levels were in South Dakota ($22,754), North Dakota ($22,990), Mississippi ($23,822), and Arkansas ($24,422). These five states continued to have the lowest wages in the nation, as they have for the past 11 years.

The 1998 average annual pay figures for these five states, which account for only 3 percent of the nation's workers, were 23 to 29 percent below the national average of $31,908. Average annual pay levels for 37 states were below the U.S. average in 1998.

Self-employment in the United States
Trends in self-employment by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, including both the unincorporated and the incorporated self-employed, as well as data on paid employees who work for the self-employed.